Oh no, my dog ate #?*#!??

#1 Don’t panic! We are available by phone after hours in cases of emergency. When you call any of our 4 clinics after hours you can leave a message for the veterinarian to return your call in the event of an emergency. However, please keep the Pet Poison Helpline number available in case you need immediate assistance in the event that our veterinarians are assisting other emergencies. Please have the following information available for the veterinarian or pet poison helpline: what your pet ingested and when; how much your pet ingested, how many, milligram strength; pet’s weight; and any previous medical conditions and list of current medications or supplements your pet is taking.

What to do if your dog or cat is poisoned:

Remove your pet from the area.

Check to make sure your pet is safe: breathing and acting normally.

Do NOT give any home antidotes.

Do NOT induce vomiting without consulting a vet or Pet Poison Helpline.

Detailed Instructions:

Immediately remove your pet from the area, and make sure no other pets (or kids!) are exposed to this area. Safely remove any remaining poisonous material from their reach.

Check to make sure your pet is breathing normally and acting fine otherwise.

Collect a sample of the material, along with the packaging, vial, or container, and save it – you will need all that information when you talk to your veterinarian or to a Pet Poison Helpline expert.

Do NOT give your dog any milk, food, salt, oil, or any other home remedies! Also, never inducing vomiting without talking to your veterinarian or Pet Poison Helpline – it may actually be detrimental or contraindicated to induce vomiting!

Don’t give hydrogen peroxide to your pet without checking with a vet or with Pet Poison Helpline first. For you cat lovers, hydrogen peroxide doesn’t work well to induce vomiting (it just causes massive foaming and salivating instead!), and stronger veterinary prescription medications are necessary to get your cat to vomit up the poison Kitty ingested!

Get help. Program your veterinarian phone number, along with an ER vet and Pet Poison Helpline’s phone number (800-213-6680) in your cell phone so you will always have immediate access to help.

Keep in mind that the prognosis is always better when a toxicity is reported immediately, so don’t wait to see if your pet becomes symptomatic before calling for help. It’s always less expensive, and safer for your pet for you to call immediately. Remember that there’s a narrow window of time when we can decontaminate (induce vomiting or pump the stomach) in the case of a poisoning! (above information is from http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com).

We see many interesting cases here at Community Veterinary Clinic and helping people and their pets keeps our batteries charged. Consider this case of “Cowboy”, a 7 year old beagle. His owners brought him to us because he was vomiting and having trouble going to the bathroom. His owners were very concerned about him as were the Doctors and staff. Cowboy was such a lovable little dog with loads of personality but he was in obvious discomfort and trouble. After x rays Cowboy’s diagnosis was evident, Bladder Stones! Cowboy had surgery on his bladder to remove the very large stone and lots of small gravel and sand sized stones. These small stones can lodge in his urethra and cause him to not be able to urinate, which can be a painful and very much a life threatening situation. With lots of postoperative nursing care from our dedicated staff and Doctors, Cowboy had recovered. He will be fed a special prescription diet that will prevent him from forming these stones again.

Cowboys x ray showing the large stone in his bladder

The bladder stone (post operative) with a quarter next to it to show the size.